Day 6: Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

If you were to survey the social media feeds of your favorite celebrities or famous people, my hunch is that their posts would be those of self-promotion. They probably would have posted pictures of themselves with others, selfies, pictures of things they were doing, videos of events they were a part of, etc. Likewise, many of our own profiles are deeply indebted to the labors of self-promotion. Flattering ourselves in the form of social media has become a very integral part of our society and collective psyche.

Praising God in the assembly of worship is the epitome of counter culture. It is the ultimate contrast to the silent, voiceless posts of individuals in social media culture. When we come together in the assembly of believers to voice our praise to God, we are doing two things that are alien in our popular culture: We are verbally expressing praise for another than ourselves, and we confidently proclaim that a God that is not seen by human eyes is active in the physical world. Praising God with the collective voice is a way that God’s people have for thousands of years participated in the mystery of God’s being with us in contrast to cultural perception.

It’s for these reasons, and a host of others, that you might feel uncomfortable in church when we all begin to sing together. To sing and lift your voice with the body of Christ is to be a part of a subversive and countercultural movement. Don’t settle for normal. Join the song! Praise the Lord! Do not allow yourself to remain silent or passive as the community voices her testimony. Join in to the praise and glory of the one who gave you life. Praise the Lord!

Jonathan Burkey | Worship Pastor